Look Mama I made Sister FANCY!

Once again Viv is forced to endure Stella's love of being Fancy... one day Stella will pay for this.

Hitting Disney HARD!

We were so blessed last winter when our friends The Parkers chose to invite us to “Do Disney” with them. Jason and I had been contemplating taking Stella for her Fourth Birthday because we felt like the “Magic” of Disney was at an all time high for her. We were right. The chance to go with some of our best friends only solidified our decision to go. So after waiting nearly a year (and keeping it a secret from the kids) we finally made it to "The Greatest Place on Earth." The Parkers were so kind to host us at “Shades of Green” a resort exclusively for Military Family and friends. Thanks to our wonderful friends we received many extra perks of Disney that otherwise we would not have had…not to mention we had an excellent “Travel Agent, Tour Guide and Entertainment Planner” in Angela, she of course had everything wonderfully organized and thanks to her the trip was a huge success with very little stress considering we took two pre-schoolers, two infants and a host of Grandparents to the nation’s largest theme park!

Opening Ceremonies at the Magic Kingdom!

Vivi gets sprayed with confetti as Mickey "officially" opens the park for the day!


Daddy and Stella riding what may be the most famous ride of all "DUMBO!"
Stella's first Disney Roller Coaster (which she rode a totally of 6 times that week!) Thunder Mountain!
Daddy and Viv waiting to ride "Pirates of the Caribbean"
ViVi not so sure about "It's a small World."
Our entire group!

Bibbidi Boppity Boutique

Since Disney was Stella birthday present from us we decided to hit Disney HARD the first day and really blow her away! So our first morning was jam packed with everything Disney Princess! We had reservations at Bibbidi Boppity Boutique before the park even opened and then it was on to Breakfast with Cinderella . It was really awesome being one of the first people into the park, it was as if Stella had a personal invitation to the castle! There were no crowds pushing their way through the streets, no long lines, just us and our little girl’s “Fairy God Mother in Training” waiting to perform a Magical Makeover.

Let me take just a moment and remind you of my daughter’s unique sense of fashion and flare…when it comes to wardrobes and hairstyles Stella has a style that is all her own. She had asked to wear her Cinderella dress, Glass Slippers included, that morning (don’t worry I packed extra clothes and shoes) but it was the hairstyle she chose that really screamed “STELLA!” The Fairy God Mother gave her three choices, The Disney Diva (think Belle from Beauty and the Beast) The Traditional Princess (Cinderella Bun) and then the POP Diva (um…Cinderella meets Cindy Lauper, as Jason explained it the rest of the day) of course this is what Stella chose. So for the rest of the day our Princess’ “True Colors” shined through…through her hairpiece that is. Check out the transformation!

Magical Meetings

One of Stella's favorite things about Disney was meeting all of the Characters...she was really into taking her autograph book around to each one for their signatures. When we booked the trip we were a little uncertain of how she would handle this aspect of Disney but for Stella it was perfect timing. Trust me six months ago she would have burried her head in her shoulder and whimpered away. Here are a few of our favorites and even Little Viv got in on the action!

This one cracks me up... not sure if it's the serious look on Stella face or that "Not so serious" hairdo!
Viv just wanted to nurse... even if it was Minnie's nose!
This character meeting was by far my favorite moment of the trip... after falling in love with the movie Stella simply could not wait to meet Ariel, and when she did Stella climbed right up on the rock, looked Ariel straight in the eye and proclaimed "I can sing like you." Then proceeded into her rendiditon of Ariel's "Ahha, Ahhhhha (from the scene where Ursala captures Ariel's voice) I was totally shocked, she did this with zero prompting from anyone... I was so sad I didn't have the video camera out. I know Stella's friend Ms. Jackie would have been so proud of her performance! Here's Stella in mid-song!
For the rest of the trip Stella would bust out into song at least 10 times a day with "I want to be, wish I could be, Part of that WORLD (insert Big, Really Big Finish here)!

Forever Friends.

One of the coolest parts of our vacation was being able to enjoy it with The Parkers but of course for Stella it was more than that it was a time to hang with one of her best buds...Aiden Parker!!! These two certainly have a Love/Hate relationship. At any moment of the trip it was no surprise to see them arguing over which ride we were doing next and then at the next glance see them in a huge embrace and giggly with each other.

Neither knew the other was going to be at Disney so the reunion in the hotel was greatly anticipated by each set of parents and it was so awesome to see the excitement on their faces when they just "happened" to run into each other in the hall! After a few moments of shreeks, shrills and a combination of hugs, wrestling, curtsies and Ninja moves the two picked up right where they left off in Texas... Stella trying to boss Aiden, teaching him how to bow like a Prince and Aiden trying his best to get Stella to try some Karate moves or at least play tag.

Here are just a few moments we captured of the two together.
"I like your hair Stelley."




Riding all by themselves!
The Ninja and his Princess.

Post Disney

We came... we saw... but Disney conquered us. This vacation requires a post-vacation, vacation.

Cinderella Stelley

Stella is in love with the Disney Princesses right now (as most girls her age I am sure) and her only request for her Birthday was a Pink Princess Party with her "Fam-a-wee" When I asked her what type of cake she wanted to buy...she looked at me and said "No Mama I don't want to buy a cake I will make my cake" and so she did. Pink Strawberry cake, of course, with pink and white icing. She did a pretty good job! The highlight of the evening was a surprise visit from Cinderella! She arrived at our house to invite Stella to Breakfast at her castle in Disney World!!! She was stunned and totally in awe with Cinderella! It was an awesome moment.